Cherry Snowball Cookies

Every good Christmas cookie tray has variety, often including at least one type of confectioners’ sugar-covered bite. With a tender cookie and gorgeous cherry in the middle, these cherry snowball cookies are a strong contender for the coveted tray spot. Plus, four ingredients make them so easy and cost-effective—a must when there’s so much time and money spent on the other Christmas cookies.

Russian tea cakes, crescent-shaped Mexican wedding cookies and pecan-studded snowball cookies are the usual players on a Christmas cookie tray, but every single one includes some kind of nut. These cherry snowball cookies are nut-free, so whether you’re feeding someone who’s allergic or just simply doesn’t like them, these are the best choice.

Ingredients for Cherry Snowball Cookies

• Butter: Bring two sticks of butter to room temperature. You can soften butter quickly by cutting it into smaller cubes or shredding the sticks on a (very clean!) cheese grater. The smaller pieces will come to room temperature much quicker than whole sticks.
• Confectioners’ sugar: Instead of granulated sugar, we use confectioners’ sugar to sweeten the cookie dough, which makes for a much more tender, melt-in-your-mouth cookie. Make sure you have enough to coat the outsides of the cookies too.
• All-purpose flour: The cookie’s texture is integral to the eating experience. It can’t be too dry or it will fall apart after the first bite. Measure the flour properly so you don’t accidentally add too much to the measuring cup.
• Maraschino cherries: Stores will sell maraschino cherries with or without stems. For ease, buy the de-stemmed cherries to save time later on. Drain the cherries from their juice and cut each one in half.

Directions

Step 1: Make the cookie dough

Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to cream the butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy, five to seven minutes.

Gradually add the all-purpose flour and mix well. Take a moment to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated.

Step 2: Shape around the cherries

Scoop up a tablespoon of dough and shape it around one cherry half, forming a ball. Repeat with the rest of the cookie dough and cherries. Place each ball 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Step 3: Bake the cookies

Bake the cookies until the bottoms are browned, 18 to 20 minutes.

Step 4: Coat in confectioners’ sugar

Roll the warm (not hot!) cookies in confectioners’ sugar. Transfer the coated cookies to wire racks to cool to room temperature.

Recipe Variations

• Include nuts or chocolate chips: Want to add some texture to the cookie dough? Fold very finely chopped nuts (pecans, almonds, hazelnuts or pistachios are best here) or mini chocolate chips into the dough before forming into balls.
• Add extracts and flavorings: These cookies have a great shortbread base, but there’s room for added flavor as desired. To enliven the cookies, slip in a little almond or vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon salt, orange zest or amaretto.

How to Store Cherry Snowball Cookies

Once the cherry snowball cookies are coated in confectioners’ sugar, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. I always like to serve the cookies the day they’re made (or the next day) because the cookies absorb some of the confectioners’ sugar as the days go on, so just be wary of that!

Can you freeze cherry snowball cookies?

Yes, you can freeze cherry snowball cookies. Transfer the cookies to an airtight container, layering a piece of parchment or waxed paper in between stacks to prevent them from sticking. Freeze the cookies for up to three months, then thaw at room temperature. I like to re-roll each cookie in confectioners’ sugar to refresh its appearance.

Cherry Snowball Cookie Tips

Do you have to leave the cherries as halves?

No, you don’t have to leave the maraschino cherries as whole halves in the center. Instead, chop them up and fold them into the dough so the bits of cherries are dispersed throughout. This will also dye the cookies a pretty light pink color that looks very festive for the holiday.

How else can you decorate cherry snowball cookies?

Instead of covering the cherry snowball cookies in confectioners’ sugar, dip them in a glaze and cover the outside with coconut, as we do in our other cherry snowballs. You could also forgo any outer coating and simply drizzle melted semisweet, dark or milk chocolate over the baked cookies instead.

What are the best cherries for cherry snowball cookies?

While you can totally use general maraschino cherries for the cookies, there are high-quality maraschino cherry brands that would be excellent in these cookies. Amarena cherries, produced by the Fabbri brand, are grown in Italy and bottled in a dark syrup.

Luxardo cherries are another quality maraschino cherry brand—they were actually the first! Each Luxardo jar is packed with another Italian-grown cherry, marasca cherries, which are candied and soaked in a dark, sweet syrup.